Account, payments & subscriptions

[PSangwhiche]

I recently decided (while scrolling on my Roku) to purchase an HBomax subscription due to the first year being 11.99, then later becoming 14.99. I enjoy my subscription, and when signing up, there was no singing up with a new password for the HBOmax website, so if I try to use my HBOmax account on any other device, I have no way to enter my email and password to sign in with. I also tried to sign in with streaming subscription, and Roku, nor Xfinity were an option to select as a device to enter a code to.  

Any attempts to sign in to an HBomax app are null. I have now tried to hit the "create new account" button, thinking I was just missing a requirement in the password , and now, even without continuing the signup process (which asks for a payment method using the same email I'm using with my Roku/hbomax subscription), it has taken that as an entirely new account (created way after I've actually subscribed). This means it shows my HBOmax account as unregistered through my email. I wanted to let Roku know that they need to make an official link with their personal email , or make Roku (or Xfinity) an option for the streaming services it was purchased through.

[makaiguy]

@PSangwhiche-

You are now encountering the drawbacks of purchasing subscriptions to streaming services through a third party like Roku, Hulu, Amazon, etc.

• Your subscription is with the third party acting as an agent for the channel service rather than the channel service itself so you generally have no credentials to log in directly to the channel service.
• For many/most channel services you can then only view the channel on the third party's platform.  For Roku this often means you must access the channel through Roku's The Roku Channel.
• On Roku if you want to remove the channel (for instance to try to repair a problem by reinstalling the channel) you first have to go through the complication of cancelling your Roku-purchased subscription.  (Your channel access wil still continue through the duration of your pre-paid subscription period.)
• Should you have problems with your subscription or channel access, resolution often gets complicated by the channel service and the third party just pointing fingers at each other.

To avoid these problems, subscribe directly with the channel service via its website.  You'll then be able to access the channel on all platforms supported by that channel service using the credentials you established with the channel service:

• web browser on the channel's website via computer or mobile device
• dedicated channel app on phone or tablet
• dedicated channel app for streaming devices.

[TrooperDada326]

https://help.hbomax.com/us/Answer/Detail/000001262

Exactly how are you subscribe to HBO Max? I have HBO Max free from my AT&T wireless. If I login normally I cannot. But if I select “login with provider” I can. HBO even tells you this 

[denhow]

My experience was different. I signed up for HBO Max during the same sale (except I chose the cheaper option of the $9.99 plan for $7.99). I signed up on the Roku using Roku pay. Part of the sign-up process on the TV screen involved entering an email address and password to create an HBO Max account. I used a different email address from the one in my Roku account and I created a different password from my Roku account password. Later I received an email from HBO to verify my email address.

I then used my HBO Max account info to sign into the HBO Max Android app. It worked just fine although I had to scroll way down past several "create a new account" buttons to find the "already have an HBO Max account?" button.

When you signed up on the Roku did it ask you to enter an email address and password to create an HBO Max account? Did you get an email from HBO? Roku Pay accounts that can sign in on other devices are new. Maybe there was some kind of hitch.

[PSangwhiche]

When I signed up for HBO through Roku, the only info it asked me to enter was the Roku pin. There was no asking for my email, a new password set up, etc.  Idk if my Roku tv is old or what the problem is, but it never linked my email to HBO until I tried to link my HBO on my phone two months into subscription, it told me I had to create a new account or restore a purchase. Restoring purchase only caused it to check my Google pay (which isn't the same email) and I could not select my Roku account.  I tried to hit 'new account' to see if I had forgotten a requirement of the password, and it started an entirely new account for me, but under the email my Roku is under (not google). However, I stopped the sign up process because it asked for payment (which I'm already paying for) .  So it has started a brand new account somehow with the same email I'm already using for Roku/HBO payments, but can't seem to find my already existing subscription, even with screenshots. 

[PSangwhiche]

I suppose I've learned this the hard way. They were not offering the deal I paid through another system, so it makes sense they make it so difficult for me to be able to stream anywhere than my home television. But even signing into Roku mobile I can't go to HBO through their app to watch things. This is why I've also contacted HBO support to work through this issue. I want the subscription at the price I was contracted, and if I cancel it'll be more expensive to redownload and subscribe. On the short term, maybe I could look at it as paying so cheap is the reason I can't watch anywhere else.

[PSangwhiche]

The "log in with provider" button does not give me a Roku option.

[TrooperDada326]

Your provider isn’t Roku. It’s always best to sign up for any streaming service on the services website. Not through your Roku account or any other device. I get HBO Max free with my AT&T wireless, that’s my provider. So I login with my AT&T credentials using the provider option. I also have an old HBO Max account I use to use. I can still log into that also. It’s not a Roku issue. 

[DBDukes · Accepted solution]

@PSangwhiche 

There are essentially three ways to subscribe and watch a service such as HBO Max.

1. Directly to HBO Max, where you use your Web browser on the HBO Max Website. You would create an account there, set up billing, and then be able to use those credentials on standalone apps on many devices. You can watch HBO practically anywhere using your account.
2. Through the HBO Max app on a device. The device can be Roku, Fire TV, iPhone, etc. You use the billing system attached to your device to bill directly. You can watch HBO Max on that device, or any similar device using the same device account. If you used Roku, you can launch the HBO Max app on any of your Roku devices and watch. If you used Fire TV, same thing; any Fire TV device tied to your Amazon account. If you used iPhone, you can use your Apple ecosystem devices to watch. (Android, same rules apply.)
3. Through another service. Roku Channel, Prime Video, and other services offer subscriptions (though not to HBO Max). A subscription to, say, Showtime this way would not only allow you to watch it through Roku Channel, but a different standalone-type app (but not really standalone) would be added and would work similar to the actual standalone app. Just like the standalone app, it has the same restrictions as a device subscription.

It seems as if you did method 2. That pretty much limits you by device. You can use it on Roku, but not the Roku app, which is effectively a mobile version of Roku Channel when it comes to playing content. That's method 3, which HBO Max doesn't have.

[PSangwhiche]

@TrooperDada32

My provider is either Roku or Xfinity, because those are the only two things I'm signed up and pay for. I understand NOW that I've been subscribed that I cannot stream other places by signing up this way, hence my reason to post this, to determine if there was something I was missing.  Physically finding out I could not stream anywhere but my TV was my first clue, but confirming that most people make a password for HBO when signing up for Roku is what tipped me off the most about knowing my experience meant I was most limited. I've accepted my fate of lowest cost= less streaming ability . But now my experience can humble others; hopefully before they make the mistake I made, they will find the thread of you warning me about the issue , and me confirming it is too late friend.    But really, thanks for everyone's help, I'm going to continue to contact HBO support and combine my existing Roku/hbo account subscription with my same email I 'created' one with a month later .  Special thanks to DBdukes for laying out the platform so I understood why it didn't crossover.  Good luck with technology in the future everyone